Amy, Jill, Eric and I were driving back toward San Jose when Eric pulled the car into a parking lot facing the ocean.

Eric knew that we would love to watch the sun set over the ocean.

While we we admiring the setting, Eric got up without a word and walked over to a pile of sticks. At least that’s what I saw. Jill saw a wood pile that had been gathered and positioned for the evening fire. Eric saw something else.

Our recent trip to California was amazing. The weather was beautiful – not the ten inches of snow beautiful that fell here last night – but mountains of green, hearts of kindness and Max.

Max, you say?

We were visiting our friends Jill and Eric Lacher. They have a dog, a Rottweiler, named Max. Here’s pictured with Jill.

I had met Max one time briefly when he was young. Jill was at our house for a roofing project, and Eric and Max stopped over. Eric held Max on leash. It was a brief acknowledgement of one another, but I was busy.

Today let me expand on those 8 benefits for parents, lovers and friends.

Note – While I color-coded for parents, lovers and friends, the suggestions are not exclusively for those groups.

Questions help us understand the problem from another perspective.Parents – You’ll take a step back from your worry-place.Lovers – You’ll maintain your commitment to togetherness.Friends – You’ll contribute to the brainstorming.

Jim Thome signed with the MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies this off season. I felt sad. When he played with my local team, the Minnesota Twins, he was my favorite player.

Why? Let me explain.

When Thome signed with the Twins before the 2010 season, the phone of (then) Twins general manager Bill Smith rang.

Smith recalled, “I got a call from someone with Philadelphia, telling me what a great guy we were getting…And then I got calls from the White Sox. And the Dodgers, even though he hadn’t been there a long time. And from Cleveland. They’d all say the same thing, about what a good guy he is.” 1

The Pro Bowl is the NFL’s version of an all-star game. Pro Bowl players are selected by votes from the coaches, players and fans, each of which count for a third of the votes.

Choosing the best possible players doesn’t guarantee success. Each player still has the responsibility to perform at his highest level in concert with his fellow teammates.

Game Planning

If you could choose a roster of friends would you have chosen someone like yourself? If you could game plan how you relate to your friends would you make the same choices that you have? If you could game plan how your friends related to you would you make the same choices that they do?

A beautiful February day filled with sunshine, laughter and friends. It was a TreeHouse staff retreat and we had the morning and afternoon off. A group of us headed to a local hockey rink for some broomball.

Since many players enjoying scoring goals more than stopping them I volunteered to play goalie for our team. I also knew that most if not all the players were more athletic and better broomball players that I was. I also assumed that the differences in our abilities would be less evident with me in goal.

Taz, our dog, usually ran into his “dog run” to take care of “his business.” 1

In his last months, despite his best intentions he didn’t always make it. That’s inconvenient, but it’s not a problem when it’s outside, someone notices what’s going on and she or he responds promptly.

On-the-other-hand, it can become a big problem if: – Inside, not outside, well, hopefully he made it into the kitchen. – Someone fails to notice, and there is now an unforeseen minefield awaiting. – Someone fails to respond, and now there the minefield is caused by neglect too.